Paper Hearts
by madame of music
Summary: This Valentine's Day just might be worse than all of the previous ones, because someone had been leaving you a paper heart every day for two weeks, and you STILL had no idea who it might be.


Oh how Karkat hated Valentine's day. From the pink hearts garishly spread on every surface possible, to the hormones raging through the air, it annoyed it all.

(Some said it was because he never had someone to share the holiday with. He would strongly disagree. He was a strong, independent dude who didn't need no man.)

But this year was different. this year he hated more than all the years combined. Why, the reader might ask?

Because someone, every day since the beginning of February had taped a doily covered and glitter drenched valentine to his locker, that always said stupid, cheesy little lines, and the worst part was that he had no idea who it was.

He had tried catching them too. At least three different times he had come extra early to school, a time when only the band kids, like Strider and Egbert were there, but the valentine was always _already there. _He had even stayed until almost five o'clock one night, and no one had even glared at his locker. Yet still, the very next morning, there was another one.

But today was Valentine's Day. today, he swore he would find out who had been leaving him those stupid little hearts every single day.

When he arrived at school, there was no heart on his locker. He checked the nearby lockers and the floor, and dug through the inside of his locker, but it was nowhere to be found. Shrugging, he assumed it would come later.

He checked after every period in the day, and at lunch, he plopped next to John, sighing in frustration.

John looked over, flashing Karkat a curious look. "S'matter Karkat?" He asked, chewing on his sandwich.

"Nothing." Karkat growled, picking at his own food. He stared at the triangle of what they called pizza, but honestly tasted more like cardboard covered in sell by date cheeses than anything. He then pushed it away from him, with a sneer of disgust.

it was pushed back towards him by all too familiar slim fingers. "Come on Vantas. If we don't eat our lunch, how will we ever grow up to be more than 4 foot eleven?" Dave smirked, sliding into the seat across from Karkat.

"Shut up Strider! I'm five foot five, thank you very much!" He glared at Dave, pushing the tray away once more.

"Whatever you say shorty." Dave chuckled, picking up Karkat's food and biting into it. He made a face, and plopped it back down on the tray.

"Just because I'm not a freakish five eleven like you doesn't make me short, Strider." He folded his arms on the table, and rested his head against them. He could hear Dave begin to banter amicably with John and Rose, about subjects he couldn't honestly care less about.

"Karkat, wake up sleepy head!" Jade poked his side, giggling. "It's time for class!"

"Huh?" He grumbled, blinking wearily and sitting up. Sure, he was tired, but never in the 3 years he had been here so far had actually fallen asleep in the building, and at the lunch table no less.

he followed behind her, grabbing his books on the way to his next class. Still no valentine, he noted. It was odd, to say the least. He hated the cards, from the very first lacy heart taped to his locker, but now he was missing them.

He contemplated who it could possibly be through all his class, and finally decided that he was silly for caring, and that he wouldn't check after this class, just to spite whomever it was.

It took him all of three steps out of the front door after the last bell to turn back and go check his locker. By the time he pushed through the crowd of people, and chatted with all of his friends wishing him a happy Valentine's Day, the hallways were nearly empty.

He slowed down, not wanting to seem too eager, and took ambling steps, only quickened when he saw the glint of red on the locker so familiar to him.

this heart was much different, however. There was no lace, no glitter, no pickup lines or cheesy poems. Instead, it was just a plain red heart, with a room number and "Happy Valentine's Day" scrawled in black pen.

He tore it off, and flipped it over, looking for anything else. But there was nothing. He stood for a few minutes, arguing internally with himself, over whether or not to follow the card. Finally, with a frustrated growl, he stomped in the direction of the room on the card. 1402, the band room.

He pushed the door open hesitantly. He saw no one, not even the director. He almost turned and walked out, before he heard a voice call out his name.

"Yo, Karkat." He turned, and noticed Dave leaning against a wall in the corner, holding a guitar.

his brow furrowed. "Strider?" He asked, stepping back into the room. "What are you doing here?"

Dave shrugged, pushing himself off the wall. "I want to play you something." He gestured to the guitar, half raising it off his chest.

Karkat arched an eyebrow. "Uh, alright. Do whatever." Whoever had left that note probably waited for him after third period. That, or it was one John's elaborate pranks.

"Sit." Dave said, nodding to a chair. Karkat complied, and Dave pulled out another chair in front of him. He strummed once, before breaking out into a song. It was some cheery rap song, and Karkat only half listened, at least until it got to the chorus.

"Say hey, I'll be gone today

But I'll be back all around the way

It seems like everywhere I go

the more I see, the less I know

But one thing

I know is

I love you."

Holy shit. Was Dave singing him a... love song?

Karkat listened intently to the rest of the song, getting increasingly more and more confused. By the time Dave finished, Karkat was fully and completely lost. There was no way Dave was singing it for him... Right?

Dave stopped strumming, and looked up at Karkat. For a few uncomfortable moments, they stared at one another. Finally, Dave cleared his throat and stood. "I, uh... See you Monday Karkat." He said, beginning to pack up his instrument.

Karkat snapped out of it. "Um, okay." As Dave reached the door, he jumped to his feet, crossing the length of the floor in three long strides. "Wait! Da- Strider!" he said, catching Dave by the elbow of his shirt sleeve.

Dave half turned, indicating he had heard Karkat, but his face stayed angled towards the door. "Yeah." He mumbled, fingers gripping the door knob. _Holy Shit. Was Strider... Nervous?_ Karkat wondered, further perplexed.

"Who was that song for? Like, who did you want to play it for that you felt the need to practice for me?" He asked, releasing Dave's shirt.

Dave mumbled something, and Karkat leaned in closer. "Huh?"

"You." Dave said, now fully meeting Karkat's gaze, mouth set in a firm line. "But you don't feel the same, so now I'm going to leave and we're going to pretend-"

"I never said that."

"Wha-"

"I never said I didn't like you." Karkat said, folding his arms and staring up at Dave. It all clicked into place, all the hearts on his locker, and the song. "But I swear to god, Strider, if this was all just some irony bullshit-"

Dave laughed, clearly relaxing. "It's not irony." He set his guitar on the ground, and leaned against the wall.

"Oh." Karkat said. "You sure?"

Dave reached out, and pulled Karkat towards him. He stumbled, and fell onto Dave, glaring up at the clearly amused teen, of whom currently had his hands on Karkat's waist. "I do actually like you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Have for awhile. Wasn't sure how to go about it." Dave shrugged, smiling at Karkat.

"You're saying cool kid Dave Strider couldn't tell a loser like me how he felt?" Karkat smirked.

Dave frowned. "You're not a loser. I don't date losers."

"We're not dating."

"We could be though." Dave said, biting his lip. He was a lot more... Emotional, in private, and Karkat liked it, strangely enough.

Wait, so just to be clear, you, Dave Strider, are asking me out?" He asked, looking back up at Dave with a blank expression.

"Yeah."

"Hm." Karkat hummed, looking at the record. The hearts were cute, and Dave had obviously gone to a lot of work for this. Their relationship was a lot better than it was at the beginning of High School, and although they still weren't bffsies, it had gotten to the point where they had hung out, and Karkat considered Dave a friend, albeit a somewhat obnoxious one.

He felt the hands at his waist loosen. "You know, never mind, this was stupid. I'm stupid."

Karkat's hands snapped down to Dave's to stop them from moving any further. "No, you're not." Karkat said, looking up at Dave and meeting his eyes once again. "I'd uh, actually like that, I guess. Being your boyfriend?" He blushed, looking back down.

Dave's hands tightened once again, and he pulled Karkat tighter against him. "Really?" He asked, voice tinged with a pleasantly surprised sort of shock.

"Yes, really, dumb fuck. I just said that, didn't I?" Karkat growled, voice filled with more affection than anything.

Dave laughed, leaning over and nudging Karkat's head up so he could rest his forehead against the others. "Cool."

"Yeah." Karkat smiled back, raising his hands to rest on Dave's shoulders. "Cool."

* * *

A/N: W o w okay this was supposed to be up 2 weeks ago, but it gave me a ton of trouble, and so yeah, happy reely late Valentine's Day

Hope you guys had a good one, and enjoy this inappropriately timed story!


End file.
